Chester (UK), winner of 2016 Access City Award

The British city of Chester is the winner of the 2016 edition of the Access City Award, which rewards and promotes the progress that cities are making to ensure equal access for persons with disabilities. Chester was chosen out of 43 cities from 21 EU countries because of its inclusive measures for people with a disability in different sectors, in particular the tourism sector.

The second prize has been granted to Rotterdam (Netherlands) and the third one to Jūrmala (Latvia), and special mentions went to Lugo (Spain), Skellefteå (Sweden), Alessandria (Italy) and Funchal (Portugal).

AGE members took part in national juries in charge of pre-selecting the candidates, and Mrs Liz Mestheneos, from AGE Greek member organisation 50+ Hellas and former AGE President, represented AGE in the European jury.

The steady growing number of people living in cities combined with the ageing of the population makes it all the more essential for cities to be more inclusive to persons with disabilities or impairments. Accessibility is key to the social and economic participation of older city-dwellers and the promotion of the WHO ‘age-friendly cities’ approach supported by AGE.

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